1. Field
An outdoor device for an air conditioner is disclosed herein.
2. Background
Air conditioners are apparatuses that maintain air within a predetermined space at a most proper state according to a use and purpose thereof. In general, such an air conditioner may include a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and evaporator. Thus, the air conditioner has a refrigerant cycle in which compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation processes of a refrigerant are performed. Thus, the air conditioner may heat or cool a predetermined space.
The predetermined space may be variously provided according to a place at which the air conditioner is used. For example, when the air conditioner is provided in a home or office, the predetermined space may be an indoor space of a house or building. On the other hand, when the air conditioner is provided in a vehicle, the predetermined space may be a space in which a person rides.
When the air conditioner performs a cooling operation, an outdoor heat-exchanger provided in an outdoor unit or device may serve as a condenser, and an indoor heat-exchanger provided in an indoor unit or device may serve as an evaporator. On the other hand, when the air conditioner performs a heating operation, the indoor heat-exchanger may serve as the condenser, and the outdoor heat-exchanger may serve as the evaporator.
Thus, when the air conditioner performs the cooling operation, the refrigerant introduced into the outdoor heat exchanger may be in a high-temperature, high-pressure gaseous state. To improve a condensation efficiency of the refrigerant, a number of branch paths which are branched into the outdoor heat exchanger may decrease, and a length of each of the branch paths may increase. That is, as a flow path of the refrigerant increases in length, a flow speed of the refrigerant may increase. Thus, as a condensation pressure is reduced, the condensation efficiency, that is, a rate at which the refrigerant changes into a liquid phase may be improved.
On the other hand, when the air conditioner performs the heating operation, the refrigerant introduced into the outdoor heat exchanger may have a two-phase state. To reduce a pressure loss of the refrigerant, the number of branch paths which are branched into the outdoor heat exchanger may increase, and a length of each of the branch paths may decrease. That is, the gaseous refrigerant of the two-phase refrigerant may increase in pressure loss during the flowing. Thus, when the flow path of the refrigerant decreases, and the number of branch paths increases, the pressure loss, that is, a loss in evaporation pressure may be prevented, improving the evaporation efficiency.
The present Applicant filed and registered, for a structure of an outdoor heat exchanger, Korean Registration No. KR10-1233209 (hereinafter “related art”), filed on Feb. 15, 2013, in Korea and entitled “Heat Pump”, which is hereby incorporated by reference. According to the related art, a refrigerant passage of an outdoor heat exchanger may include a first unit passage and a second unit passage. One or a first side of the first unit passage and one or a first side of the second unit passage may be connected in parallel to each other by a first parallel connection passage. The other or a second side of the first unit passage and the other or a second side of the second unit passage may be connected in parallel to each other by a second parallel connection passage.
A first distributor and a second distributor are installed on the first parallel connection passage, and a first header and a second header are installed on the second parallel connection passage. The outdoor heat exchanger further includes a series connection passage that connects the first unit passage to the second unit passage in series when the cooling operation is performed. The series connection passage may be configured to bypass the refrigerant passing through the first unit passage toward an inlet of the second unit passage when the cooling operation is performed. The outdoor heat exchanger includes a passage switching unit or switch, which that is installed in the first and second parallel connection passages or the series connection passage to open or close each of the passages, that is, a series connection valve and a backflow prevention valve.
According to the outdoor heat exchanger having the above-described structure, a series connection passage that acts as a variable path may be provided to close the series connection passage when the heat operation is performed and to open the series connection passage when the cooling operation is performed. Thus, the passage may be complicated in structure, and a loss in pressure may occur in the tube through which the refrigerant flows. Also, as a separate series connection valve to open and close the series connection passage has to be provided, manufacturing costs may increase.